A cryptic crossword expert is uprooted from suburban England to rural Pennsylvania. How will he fare in the land of Aleros, ERAs and Oreos?

Sunday, April 26, 2009

NPR Sunday 4/26/09 -- Two Currently Equals Zero

After a very easy puzzle, given that they got over 2,500 entries for Consumer Reports, we have a slightly tougher one. I think it's slightly tougher because neither Ross nor I have managed to get it yet... Your mileage might vary.

Here's the puzzle:

5 = 47 = 58 = 126 = 912 = ?

Now, the answer would be 6 and we'd all sleep well at night, if only 8 = 5 (or was left out of the list!). (If you can't see what we're getting at, let that be an extra puzzle to gnaw on.) But 8 = 1, which really complicates things. I'll continue to mull this over -- no hints, please! -- and will report on my progress on Thursday.